Foray at Naphill Common on Sunday October 26th, 2014
Penny Cullington
A sizeable group of us met up at the Village Hall on a fine morning - over 40 people
of which about a quarter were BFG members, the rest either Friends of Naphill Common or extras
who came along to give us a trial run. We were lead round expertly by Peter who knows the site
like the back of his hand, thus Derek and I could focus on giving forayers our full attention. We
were kept pretty busy though fruiting was certainly not plentiful. As usual when both of us are
leading, we encouraged people to ask both of us independently for names; the advantages of this are
twofold: firstly it’s always a good idea to have more than one opinion when identifying in the field,
and secondly it proves to the doubters that we’re not just picking random Latin names willy-nilly
out of the air! As with our other recent forays it soon became clear that small things growing in leaf
litter were faring much better than the larger mycorrhizal species which were decidedly thin on the
ground. Sadly it’s rather looking as if the latter have either shot their bolt or given up the idea of
fruiting for this autumn. (I hope I shall be proved wrong on this.)
With such a good number of eyes searching we were able to list 70 species in the field, and
with work on specimens at home later this crept up to 92, of which 21 were new to the site - not a
bad haul for what is now generally considered to be a somewhat disappointing season for fungi.
Most were fairly mundane species, however, but this never matters when even the common things
are of interest and often amazing to forayers who are relatively new to looking at fungi. One of the
commonest species was Mycena arcangeliana (Angel’s bonnets) typically growing clustered on
fallen wood. I
included a
photo of very
young material
of this species
in last week’s
report for
Mousells
Wood, but
thought it
worth having
another photo
of more mature
and faded
specimens here.
The typical
purplish stem is
still apparent
Mycena arcangeliana which was very common today. (photoTM) but its olive beige cap colour
has all but disappeared.
We identified ten different species of Mycena (Bonnets) in all, some growing on wood,
others on soil or leaf litter, though only a few had distinctive characters one can spot in the field.
Mycena galopus (Milking bonnet) obligingly showed its white ‘juice’ emanating from the broken
stem to a few people, but surprisingly for Chiltern woodland Mycena crocata (Saffrondrop bonnet)
with its startling orange juice was absent – presumably we were not amongst Beech trees, the fallen
branches of which this species depends upon.
Few Inkcaps were found, but one was Coprinopsis picacea (Magpie Inkcap) – this is clearly
enjoying a good year, and we also found the common Coprinellus micaceus (Glistening Inkcap). In
Neil’s excellent photo below one can see the tiny specks of ‘veil’ still visible on the cap surface
which give this species its common name.
Coprinellus micaceus fruiting today at Naphill Common. (photoNF)
We found two species of Parasols, and it
was good to be able to demonstrate how to tell them
apart as several of them are considered good edible
species though one (probably just as often eaten!) is
not advised and can cause gastric upsets. Looking
with care at the stem is the first step, and if the
beige ‘snakeskin’ markings (seen clearly in the
photo here) are absent you are likely to have
Chlorophyllum rhacodes (Shaggy parasol), the one
that should not be eaten. Further confirmation of
this is easy to check: break open the cap and within
a few seconds the white flesh will start turning
bright orange. The edible species of Parasol
(Macrolepiota procera, konradii and mastoidea)
lack this change of flesh colour and all have
snakeskin markings on the stem. I can only reiterate
here the need for extreme caution when collecting
for the pot. There are dangerously poisonous fungi
about, and we collected one of them today – a
species of Clitocybe (Funnel) with a white cap and
pinkish sloping gills which is all too easy to mistake
for the edible and much prized Clitopilus prunulus
Macrolepiota procera showing the typical snakeskin (The miller). The only clear difference between them
stem markings to look out for to avoid confusion in the field is in the smell: mealy in the miller but
with the similar Chlorophyllum rhacodes. (photo PC) sweetish in the funnel, and the spores should
always be checked with a microscope to be really
sure which of them you have. You have been warned! Do not take chances when your health, even
your life, could be at stake.
Despite the general lack of mycorrhizal species (those growing on tree roots) we did find
several different species of Russula (Brittlegills) though they were mostly singletons and also very
eaten, no doubt reflecting the short supply of this regular autumn fare enjoyed by squirrels, mice,
slugs and the like. This genus with its often bright cap colours and crumbly pale gills is usually easy
to recognise (though often not to identify to species), but one we found is not very typical and has a
brown sticky cap and an
unpleasant slightly cheesy smell.
There are several species of
Russula with this type of smell,
affectionately called ‘the smellies’,
often growing under Oak as was
today’s collection. At home I put a
drop of guaiac, a stain, on the stem
and it turned instantly blue-green –
a reaction typical of Russula
amoenolens (Camembert
brittlegill), one of two species very
similar in appearance, though the
other and much rarer one, R.
sororia (Sepia brittlegill), entirely
lacks this colour reaction to guaiac. Russula amoenolens growing under Oak today, showing the blue-
green guaiac reaction on the stem. (photo PC)
Several brackets were collected, one being Daedaleopsis confragosa (Blushing bracket) – a
specimen which was young and fresh enough to live up to its apt common name.
Daedaleopsis confragosa, above left the top view, and right the underside ‘blushing’
where pressed with a thumb. (photo TM)
The area which produced the most interesting species was the pond perimeter where four
quite unusual things turned up. The first was a clump of striking quite large yellow fruitbodies with
long orange stems - they foxed both Derek and me at the time. This took time at home to solve and
eventually we agreed that it was
Pholiota alnicola (Alder scalycap).
The common name is, however,
somewhat misleading in two ways:
this is a species found with several
tree species, not just Alder, and today
was with Willow, furthermore though
the genus Pholiota contains many
scaly-capped species they are by no
means all so, and this one has a
smooth cap!
Pholiota alnicola found today with Willow
(the photo taken at Stoke Common with
Birch PC)
Two more species from soil under the Willows at the pond were Hebeloma helodes and
Naucoria salicis, both small and fairly insignificant in appearance but with under 100 national
records so not that common. Finally to the collection which caused Derek and me the most
headache and found by one of our forayers: a species again on soil at the pond edge which looked to
us like some sort of Hypholoma (ie Sulphurtuft genus) but was unfamiliar. We both spent a fair
amount of time with books and scopes, then ended up emailed each other to say we were stuck! I
was determined to solve the mystery as we had a nice collection of fruitbodies plus a photo, and
there were distinctive microscopic characters which surely must lead to a conclusion. With a fresh
go the next morning I
eventually got somewhere
and realised that there could
well be a slip in the
description of this particular
species in the main reference
book which was possibly
causing both of us to
discount it. So after more
consultation we are agreed
that we have Hypholoma
ericaeoides - a species
found sometimes in
grassland but also (and
significantly) often in damp
places, pond edges in
woodland.
Hypholoma ericaeoides - an unusual species growing around the pond
perimeter today. (photo PC)
Many thanks to the attendees, all of whom contributed to our lengthy list of species today.
We’ve added considerably to the site records. Thanks also for the photos supplied by Neil Fletcher
and Tony Marshall – it is always tricky at a busy foray like today’s to find the time to take photos as
well as keeping the list and helping with explanations.
See the complete list for more details of what we found today.